CHAPTER 1

"It's A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN ATHENS SAID HIPPOLYTA. AS SHE threw open the balcony doors and gazed at
the brightly- coloured gardens that surrounded the palace. A gentle wind brought the sweet smell of
jasmine into the room and Hippolyta took a deep breath.

"It is indeed a beautiful day, my dear," said Theseus, "but not nearly as beautiful as you..." Hippolyta
blushed and Theseus took her small white hands in his. "My darling, our wedding is in just four days, and
yet it feels so far away!" he said.

Hippolyta laughed. "I assure you, dear Theseus, these four days will pass quickly. We will be man and
wife, or rather, Duke and Duchess, in no time."

I'm planning the biggest wedding celebration that Athens has ever seen," said Theseus, his brown eyes
shining with excitement. "I've ordered Philostratus, my Master of Revels, to organise the entertainment.
There will be plays, singers, jugglers.. Our guests will come from all over Greece to wish us well!

"That sounds wonderful!" said Hippolyta as she wrapped her arms around her fiancé.

Their embrace was interrupted by the sound of a trumpet echoing through the palace. Theseus frowned.
"We must have a visitor," he said. "I wonder who it could be?"

A few moments later, a servant led an elderly gentleman, a young woman and two young men, one
dark-haired, the other fair-haired. into the Duke's study.

"Good day, Theseus, Duke of Athens," said the elderly man, bowing slightly. "And good day to you too,
fair Hippolyta."

Hippolyta smiled and nodded her head as Theseus shook the hand of his old friend.

"It's good to see you, Egeus," said the Duke. "What brings you here today?"

"Your Grace, I have come to ask for your help." said Egeus. "My daughter Hermia, here," he pointed at
the curly-haired girl standing next to him - "is refusing to listen to me! Egeus waved his hand at the dark-
haired young man. "Step forward, Demetrius!" he commanded. The young man did as he was told.

"I gave Demetrius permission to marry Hermia," explained Egeus. "but she has fallen in love with
Lysander!" The old man pointed an angry finger at the fair-haired youth. "Or rather, Lysander has tricker
ber into falling in love with him! He has given her sweets and gifts and turned my well-behaved
daughter into a very stubborn young woman! Your Grace, according to Athenian law, a daughter must
obey her father's wishes or be punished. I beg you, make her come to her senses!"

Theseus turned to look at Hermia. "What your father says is true Hermia. You must. by law, obey his
wishes. Why are you refusing to marry Demetrius? He is, in my opinion, a good man."
"But Lysander is also a good man!" cried Hermia, her blue eyes filling with tears.

That may be true," said Theseus, "but your father has chosen Demetrius to be your husband."

Hermia was quiet for a moment. "Your Grace, what will happen to me if I refuse to do what my father
wants?"

"You will either be put to death or sent to live in a nunnery replied Theseus. "The choice is yours, Hermia,
either obey your father or suffer a terrible punishment. You have until my wedding day to make your
decision."

Demetrius touched Hermia's arm lightly. "Please do as your father asks, Hermia," he begged. "You really
have no other choice..."

"Leave her alone, Demetrius!" shouted Lysander. "Can't you see that Hermia and I are in love?"

"Love has nothing to do with it!" shouted Egeus.

"But it does!" said Lysander. "Hermia loves me, not Demetrius. Egeus, I am as wealthy and successful as
Demetrius is, and, if I may say, a much better man. Demetrius was once engaged to Hermia's friend
Helena, but he left the poor girl because he wanted to marry Hermia, a woman who does not care for
him at all. Demetrius broke Helena's heart: she still loves him dearly."

"I have heard this story, Lysander," said Theseus, "but it does not change the fact that Egeus wants his
daughter to marry Demetrius. Now, I would like Egeus and Demetrius to join me in my private chamber
to discuss this matter further. Hermia, my advice to you is to do your father requests... Come Hippolyta,
let's go."

Once the Duke, Hippolyta, Egeus and Demetrius had left the room, Hermia sat down on a blue velvet
sofa and sighed. "Oh, what a sad day she said softly A tear ran down her pale pink cheek and Lysander
wiped it away gently.

"What are we going to do, Lysander?" asked Hermia. "There's no way out of this horrible situation."

"I think I might have a solution," said Lysander as he sat down next to the girl. Hermia looked at him
curiously. "I have a rich aunt who lives in a town outside of Athens," continued Lysander. "She never had
any children and always thought of me as her son. Perhaps we should run away and get married at her
house. If we get married outside of Athens, we won't be breaking any laws."

Hermia's eyes brightened and she threw her arms around Lysander. "Oh Lysander!" she cried. That's a
wonderful idea!"

"We'll leave tomorrow night," said Lysander. "Meet me in the wood outside Athens at eight o'clock. We
won't run into anyone if we travel at night. In the meantime, I'll make all the arrangements for the
journey."

Hermia smiled. "I can't wait to marry you, Lysander!" she said.
"Neither can I," said the young man, as he kissed Hermia on her forehead.

A short while later, the couple left the palace and went their separate ways: Lysander went home to
prepare for the journey, while Hermia decided to go to the market to buy some fruit. It was there that
she ran into her old friend, Helena.

"Helena!" said Hermia with a broad smile. "It's so good to see you!"

"Is it?" said Helena coolly.

Hermia sighed. "Are you still angry with me, Helena?"

Helena ignored her friend's question and began filling a small basket with red apples.

"Talk to me, Helena!" said Hermia.

Helena stopped what she was doing and turned to look at Hermia. "Yes!" she cried. "I'm still angry with
you! You stole the heart of my beloved Demetrius!"

"Oh Helena," said Hermia. "I've told you before, I have no interest in Demetrius, The trouble is, he just
doesn't seem to understand that. In fact, the more I ignore him, the more he chases after me!"

Helena sighed. " And the more I chase after Demetrius, the more he ignores me."

"That's not my fault," said Hermia.

"It is!" cried Helena. "You are more beautiful than I am! You are entirely to blame for what's happened."

"Well, you needn't worry about me any more," said Hermia. "Demetrius will never see me again after
tomorrow."

Helena raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean by that?"

"Oh Helena!" said Hermia. "I Have wonderful news! Lysander and I are planning to run away together!
His aunt lives in a town outside of Athens and we're going to go to her house to get married! I'm going
to meet Lysander in the wood tomorrow night. We've decided to travel at night so that no one sees us."

Helena looked surprised. "Really?" she said. "Well. in that case. I wish you and Lysander all the very
best."

"Thank you, Helena!" said Hermia, as she squeezed her friend's arm. "And I wish you the best of luck
with Demetrius."

"Thank you," said Helena quietly,

"Goodbye, my friend!" said Hermia.

As Helena watched her friend walk away with her basket of fruit, she came up with a rather clever idea:
she decided to tell Demetrius about Hermia's decision to run away with Lysander. Helena knew that
Demetrius would follow Hermia into the wood to stop her, so she decided to follow Demetrius and beg
him to give her one last chance. It was the only way Helena could think of to win her former fiance back.

Anxious to set her plan in motion, Helena dropped her basket of apples and ran off to find her beloved
Demetrius.